THE sight of Antonio Pierce taping up his right ankle and ambling onto the field last weekend in Philadelphia is the finest definition of leadership the Giants are likely to encounter.

It also was the exact point Tom Coughlin was trying to make nearly four years ago when he bungled the message during his daunting introductory press conference.

Any and every Coughlin detractor enjoys hearkening back on that infamous declaration that sounded bad when first uttered and worse with every ache and sprain and break to the bones of Giants players. In what morphed into an impassioned, over-the-top sermon, Coughlin scoffed at the dismal injury situation that marked the end of Jim Fassel’s seven-year Giants coaching tenure, using harsh rhetoric that astounded everyone in the room.

“I’m aware of the injury factor, the number of IRs, which is a cancer, let’s face it,” Coughlin said on Jan. 6, 2004. “It’s something that has to be corrected. It’s a mental thing, I believe, as much as anything else.”

At the time, it sure sounded as if Coughlin was kicking Fassel on the way out, deriding his operation a country club atmosphere where players practiced and played when they wanted and begged off when they felt the slightest bit under the weather.

That was a crock, and Coughlin goofed in coming on so strong and inappropriately inserting a hot-button word such as “cancer” into the discussion. What he meant, clearly, is that a team cannot submit to injury as an excuse. Coughlin is not alone in this; virtually every NFL coach needs his players to push the envelope when it comes to fighting through physical issues.

The Giants Sunday night can clinch their third consecutive playoff berth with a victory over the Redskins, and when judging Coughlin’s strengths, weaknesses and his future employment, Giants ownership and general manager Jerry Reese should take a long look at what has evolved into this team’s greatest attribute. Coughlin has created a team in a real sense, where accountability runs deep and the fear of letting down the group is a tangible concern.

The head coach is responsible for creating such an environment and it cannot exist without trust flowing coach to player and player to coach. Pierce last Saturday unquestionably did not believe he could play on his sprained right ankle, feeling he hurt the team and embarrassed himself the way he hobbled around the week before in Chicago. Pierce was respectfully but forcefully hounded by his teammates and even by his two sons to get out there and play.

The Giants medical staff gave him clearance, stating he was not risking additional injury, convinced he could protect himself. That Pierce played – he was not at his best, but made perhaps the defensive play of the game on a close-call pass breakup – spoke volumes for his toughness and the culture that has developed around these Giants.

“I saw him grimacing on the foot all game,” Justin Tuck said. “He still is hurt.”

But yet he played.

“The huge thing about that,” an appreciative Coughlin said, “is that guys look at it and they see that there is, ‘OK he is coming back from an injury and he thinks of himself healthy enough to play in a game realizing that this is pro football and you only have so many people and you are certainly in a position where you are trying like heck to win every game.’ I think that is a very, very good example.”

It’s not the only one. Earlier this season, Osi Umenyiora hurt his knee so badly in the opener there was talk he might miss a month; he did not miss a game. Eli Manning that same day sprained his right shoulder and reports surfaced that he’d definitely be forced out of the next game. Manning didn’t miss a down.

Plaxico Burress has enhanced his reputation by competing in every game despite a severely sprained ankle he suffered in the second week of the season. Brandon Jacobs and rookie cornerback Aaron Ross faced the Eagles with balky hamstrings.

Injuries are real and a coach can do little to prevent them, but how the Giants have dealt with and overcome the inevitable physical scars reflects well on them, and Coughlin as well.